


Judgement

by LetoaSai



Series: Secrets [15]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angry Riku, Defending Sora, Discovering manikins, M/M, Riku rants, Riku's in love with Sora, Sequel, Set during main story, Xion cusses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28066434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai
Summary: When Riku found out that Yen Sid's careless comments had chased away both Sora and Vanitas... He had some choice words for the sorcerer.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Secrets [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593604
Comments: 43
Kudos: 109





	Judgement

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts 
> 
> One-shot set during the middle of Secrets Kept

Clues were hard to find when you didn’t know exactly what you were looking for. Riku had foolishly thought that when Master Yen Sid had sent him and Aqua out scouting, that he had a direction in mind. He thought Aqua had a plan or that Yen Sid would give them last minute instructions. 

That was stupid, and he should have realized that sooner. After the botched Mark of Mastery exam he should have figured out that part of Yen Sid’s greatest powers was making it _seem_ like he knew everything regardless of what he actually knew. 

He sensed a pending darkness nearby, Riku could believe that. He’d used the words ‘violent’ and ‘perilous’ when describing them. Riku could believe that too. It wasn’t too much of a surprise. Darkness existed before them and it would exist long after them too. That was the nature of things. 

They all just had to play their part to try to keep the peace and that sounded like a purpose. It sounded like an adventure. It sounded like something he could do to make up from the mistakes he’d made in the past. He was eager to be a good keyblade master and feel as if he deserved the title the way Sora _deserved_ it. 

Instead of a plan, he and Aqua just sort of wandered between worlds in his own gummi ship because he didn’t know how to use a glider the way she did though she promised to teach him. It sounded fun for short trips but he had way too many souvenirs packed away in the back of his ship. 

The fact that she offered to teach him was...nice. Actually getting to learn something from another master felt like a novelty.

Someday's, he really missed being able to summon the dark corridors. They were faster. Instead he was forced into small talk in the small quarters of his ship. It wasn’t even that he didn’t want to get to know Aqua, he did. He was curious about her and the way she’d grown up with an actual master. He just had to relearn to be social again and chatting really being all they could do while traveling chafed. 

All the same, Aqua had stories that were lighthearted and fun and it was hard to reconcile this woman as the same one he’d met as a child. They were so close in age now and both had a talent for sniffing out darkness, literally. 

He just honestly, would have rather been traveling with Sora and Kairi. Life was never that simple though. Kairi was still caught between transitioning out of normal life and into full keyblade training, and Sora was… Well, Riku wasn’t really sure. He was acting as Vanitas’ host and guide but other than that, Riku didn’t know. Yen Sid liked to keep him close by for whatever reason. 

Like any time there was some kind of emergency, Sora was the one around to end up dealing with it. 

Go on a directionless scouting missing for miscellaneous darkness? Yeah, he and Aqua could do that. Leave it to the masters. 

Send one boy to half a dozen worlds to fight monsters and look for a keyhole that could literally be anywhere? Yeah, Sora can do that. 

Things really were too damn mixed up. 

“Odd.” Aqua muttered. “I can’t tell if there’s darkness here or if it’s just old.” 

They wandered the new world they’d stumbled across and had come across any people yet. Despite the sun in the sky there was a thick mist that hung in the air and only remnants of old structures. Whatever was here once was mostly gone now, only rubble and ruins left behind. 

“Vacant.” Riku agreed, thinking how much fun he and Sora would have had here. “And definitely spooky but maybe not stewing with darkness.” 

“No, i agree.” Aqua mused, nearly slipping on slick grass. With as damp as everything was they had to assume it had recently rained. “Nothing here looks like it was done recently.” Every structure was falling apart. 

Riku heaved a sigh. “Aqua, what are we even looking for?” 

There was a slight tick in her cheek. She didn’t know either. “I guess it’s not always as easy as spotting heartless or unversed.” 

“No. Darkness doesn’t always advertise itself so easily.” Riku said. The whispers were more dangerous. The coaxing into making someone feel they were wrong or rejected. Those promises of power and dreams fulfilled. Things that couldn’t always be _seen_.

That was dangerous darkness that could spread like wildfire in capable, demented hands. 

Aqua sighed, hands on her hips. “Well, Master Yen Sid did make it sound like it was moving. Traveling maybe. We could just be on the wrong road.” 

“I just don’t understand. If he can feel the darkness, can’t he give us more of a direction?” 

“I don’t think it’s ever that simple.” Aqua said, looking around. There was a fine line between giving each place a good once over, and spending too much time in one spot. 

Riku grunted, not impressed. He and Sora had more dumb luck than this before even meeting the great sorcerer. “I guess i just don’t like feeling useless.” 

She turned to look at him with a frown of her own. “I relate to the feeling. Let’s take a few minutes more and we’ll head out to our next destination.” 

“Sounds good.” 

They split up a little, but not so far apart that they couldn’t see each other or hear the other shout in an emergency. Riku had to wonder just how many empty worlds there were. When they were worried about pending a miscellaneous enemy appearing anywhere, separating too much was just stupid. 

They searched for another hour and Riku was starting to think this place really was as empty as it seemed.

Aqua’s phone suddenly blaring through the silence had them both tensing hard with adrenaline. Both shared a look and heaved a sigh. Their stint with darkness left them jumpy. 

“Hello Master Yen Sid.” She greeted after answering. 

There was a brief moment where Riku thought maybe he’d lucked out and the master had more information for them. Instead as he got closer he could see Yen Sid’s grim expression on Aqua’s screen. 

“Sora has gone missing and Vanitas is also nowhere to be found.” 

Riku felt his stomach sink. 

“You don’t…” Aqua’s expression turned stony. “You don’t suppose Vanitas was up to something?” 

“At this point, i can’t say. Neither are in the tower.” 

“It’s Sora.” Riku muttered. “If i didn’t know his middle name, i’d think it was Adventure.” There was no reason to think the worst… "They probably just..." 

“However good Sora’s intentions were, it’s becoming clear that Vanitas is not the best role model for him. They need to be found.” 

“I will call Terra and Ventus.” Aqua said immediately. 

“I have done so already to see if that was where Sora could be found. He is not and Ventus is at the ready to travel.” Yen Sid said as if that wasn’t a big deal. After his reaction to Vanitas, it seemed unwise to make him worry over..potentially nothing.

“What about calling Sora?” Riku asked but Aqua and Yen Sid were already planning out rendezvous points to meet with the other Wayfinders. 

Riku rolled his eyes and tried not to let panic spread any faster than it already was. This wasn’t him, he was letting their stress affect him. He knew Sora. Sora wasn’t the stupid kid everyone thought he was. Everything was fine. 

“I’ll call Roxas.” Aqua said. “If anyone would know, he’s my bet.” 

“Call. Sora.” Riku scowled. 

She glanced back at Riku with a nod. “Give him a try while i call Roxas.” 

There were dozens or reasons why that pissed him off, but with or without Vanitas, Sora didn’t deserve this sense of mistrust. Still, what if something was wrong?

He swallowed thickly, all of a sudden unable to stop thinking of a dozen horrible scenarios that could have happened. When would he learn? Hadn’t he promised to stay by Sora’s side? He’d sworn that he would be someone Sora could depend on. Phone in hand as he walked away from Aqua, he was already prepared to take his panic from a ‘three’ to an ‘eleven’ thanks to their worrying. He never actually imagined Sora would answer his phone after only four rings. 

“Hey Riku.”

Riku tried to release the tension in his body. He was okay. He _looked_ okay. This was good, everyone was just over reacting. This was good... “Where are you?”

Sora blinked slowly and his eyes flitted around like he had to actually think about it. “Um, close to Port Royal? I don’t think you’ve ever been here. I can’t remember.”

“No,” Riku sighed, the name wasn’t familiar. “I meant… You left the tower?”

“Yes.”

Riku couldn’t help the scowl his face slid into. Sora always did this. He worried him to no end. “I asked you not to.”

“No, you asked me to be careful and to not wander off by myself. I am being careful and i’m with Vanitas and Xion.” Sora said with a hint of laughter and something else he couldn’t quite pinpoint. “What’s your problem?”

Riku took a deep breath, trying to relax. He’d learned around the age of eight that yelling didn’t make Sora understand any faster. “Master Yen Sid called Aqua. He’s pretty pissed you and Vanitas just disappeared without a word. I guess he doesn’t know Xion is with you.”

He wasn’t sure it would have made a difference if he did. 

“So he’s being paranoid.” Sora sighed tiredly.

Riku hated that look, that defeated even though i’m trying my best, look. 

“I don’t want you getting in trouble. Please head back soon.” Riku muttered. “I don’t want him losing any faith in you because he can’t understand what you’re trying to do.”

Yen Sid already had Aqua paranoid about the whole thing. He personally didn’t see what the big deal was but he didn’t have the history Aqua and Terra did with Vanitas.

Sora shook his head, looking a touch annoyed and for the moment, refused to even meet Riku’s gaze through the screen. “I don’t need his faith. I have my friends' faith. I have yours.”

“You do.” Riku whispered, stupid butterflies... “But whatever is going on is really bothering him. Please don’t prod the sleeping bear, or the seriously overpowered sorcerer.”

“I hear you.” Sora said with the same tone he had in school when a teacher was telling him to behave. “We’re saving people right now. When we’re done we’ll head back.”

“Thank you, Sora. I’m sorry too.” He hesitated, eyes dragging over Sora. He couldn’t stop noticing now that he was getting a good look. “Are you a pirate?”

“Damn right? Jealous?” Sora grinned, his attention returning. 

“Yes.” Riku finally cracked a smile. Sora was just trying to have a day off with Vanitas and Xion and everyone was acting like it was the end of the world. “How dare you play pirates without me. I was always the one that kept you safe from pirates who came onto our shores.”

He watched a smile bloom across Sora’s face. His eyes crinkled in the corners and everything. “I do okay at protecting myself while you’re away.” Sora promised. “Now let me get these people home and we’ll head back to the tower. It’ll take a couple hours.”

“Okay. Aqua and i are still trying to figure out what we’re after out here. We’re not sure if we’ve seen anything significant.”

Sora nodded once. “Be careful. Stay safe.”

“You too, Sora.” Riku said, telling himself that Sora was capable. He wasn’t alone and he was FINE. He didn’t need Riku babying him. He was a warrior of light. “Take care.” 

He hung up before he could do something stupid like end the conversation with an ‘i love you’ and promise to meet Sora there in an hour so they could travel back together. 

He was exhausted from a simple phone call and even hearing Aqua on the end of Roxas’ snark didn’t perk him up any.

He really was fine with going on missions but the whole ‘being separated from Sora’ thing wasn’t for him. They’d wanted to run away and travel together, not run away and hardly ever see each other again.

Worse than that, was dealing with situations like this. Yen Sid was the one over reacting and making all of them panic for no good reason. Riku wanted to trust Master Yen Sid. He wanted that positive role model in his life and he should have learned by now that the most positive influence in his life would always be Sora.

“I take it he’s not in any mortal danger?” Aqua asked as she wandered toward him. He was embarrassed that she could have heard any part of that conversation but she’d likely been occupied with Roxas taking her to task.

He just nodded. “He’s playing pirates and Vanitas and Xion.” 

Her lips twitched but her expression was mostly closed off, a mask. Riku couldn’t help but think that that response hadn’t been what she was expecting. 

“I see…” 

Riku waited a beat, wondering if she’d continue, but she didn’t. “I’m not sure you do. You need to have more faith in Sora. He’s the only reason either of us are here.” 

Riku left her to think about that and picked another direction to wander. The ruins hadn’t seemed as fun now from when they’d first arrived. Not as fun as playing pirates. 

Had Sora been here, things would have been different. He’d have come up with a game on the spot, just like when they were little. Maybe Sora’s heart was too big. 

“Riku!” He heard Aqua yell moments before a boot slammed into his spine. He went hurdling forward, feeling a painful crack as he went tumbling. Without even thinking about it he cast a cure and Aqua was in front of him, defending him from his attacker. 

It was a man in armor, the helmet rising into three points but it wasn’t right at all. He looked like he was made of blue crystal. Everything from his hair to his clothes to his weapon were all the same. 

Aqua raced forward and the two fought while Riku struggled to regain his footing. He didn’t smell darkness the way he usually could but he could still feel the ill intent. 

On the alert now he jerked back just in time to avoid a woman. Like the other creature, she was all made of something like pink crystal and handled a gunblade made of the same. 

“Bitch…” Riku grumbled, summoning his keyblade. 

He’d evidently gotten used to fighting heartless and nightmares. Creatures that were driven by instinct and the need to attack were different from whatever these crystal fighters were. There wasn’t just skill within her fighting but trained movements. Intelligence. 

What the hell were these things? 

They’re blades clashed and the slick grass had Riku sliding far more than he would have liked. It took a hefty fire spell to get the woman to back off. He drove her towards Aqua who was finished with her opponent and attacked Riku’s from behind. 

Riku was sure they had it covered when a third creature appeared, red crystal this time. They were a pain, and took more than the few hits it took to shatter a heartless. It was much more reminiscent to fighting one of the organization members. He teleported several times around the man, using the speed to his advantage and a thunder spell or two before it disappeared in defeat.

“Aqua, you good!?” Riku yelled, just before hearing Aqua give a battle cry and shove her keyblade through the crystal woman’s stomach. She disappeared, same as the others. 

Aqua was panting, adrenaline hard to shake off in a moment's notice. “I’m good. What were those things?” 

“Never seen them before.” Riku said. “They weren’t heartless.” 

“No. The human appearance was too spot on. They didn’t speak though.” 

They looked around for more, but like before didn’t sense a thing. At least they didn’t come in groups as big as heartless or nobodies.

“I’m going to say it’s safe to assume that’s what we were looking for though.” 

Aqua nodded. “Yeah. Let’s head back for now. At least we’ll have something to report on.” 

“Sounds good.” Wanting to check in on Sora had nothing to do with his eager response. 

~

The trip back home didn’t seem to take as long as traveling away did. Somehow it was always that way but both Riku and Aqua expected a much different home coming then Lea and Xion sitting on the lawn in front of the tower. 

Xion looked...stressed out which was saying something given how good she was at hiding her expression. Lea just looked annoyed like he could start a fight at the drop of a pin but was keeping his cool for Xion’s sake. 

“What’s wrong, guys?” Aqua asked. 

“Sora back?” Riku asked right after. “You were together, right?”

Xion groaned and flopped back into the grass. 

Riku blinked. “Is that a no?” 

“Man, you missed one hell of a shit show.” Lea said, ripping up chunks of grass because he could. 

“Do you have to use that kind of language?” Aqua sighed, expecting him to act his age. 

“Fuck.” Xion said petulantly, making Lea snort. 

Only few of them had ever experienced Xion in a bad mood. “What’s going on now?” 

“Sora ran away from home.” Lea said and if five words could hurt... 

There was a moment where Riku went cold and if he was being dramatic, he’d say his heart stuttered a few beats. “What?” 

Lea nodded. “So Roxas and i showed up to meet Sora and the others.” he gestured to Xion. “But man, they barely made it off the gummi-ship before Master Yen Sid was on their ass. Basically said Sora had no good judgement and that Vanitas was a monster that was just trying to corrupt Sora.” 

“Despite the fact that we had a perfectly lovely day!” Xion snapped, honestly pissed as she glared at the sky. “We were getting to spend time together and i was actually getting to learn about both of them. Sora had a pirate ship and Vanitas is funny. Did you know Vanitas was funny!? No, of course you don’t because he’s all darkness and will never be anything else!” 

Her tone nearly had Aqua wincing. 

“Yeah, Vanitas totally told Yen Sid to fuck off first and it was glorious.” Lea chuckled, committing that to memory. 

“Wait, back up.” Riku said, unable to comprehend the last statement when Sora was missing. “Where’s Sora?” 

Lea grunted. “Well Vanitas apologized to Sora, said staying here was a bust and he left and Sora was down right heart broken. Like the worst kind’s of betrayals.” 

“Blamed Yen Sid. Said he was the one that couldn’t see Vanitas properly.” Xion continued. “It was a big argument and Sora stormed off to his gummi ship. Roxas ran after him and managed to board before Sora took off.”

“Silver lining.” Lea offered. “At least they’re together. Roxas will keep him company.” 

Riku reached up, pressing his palms against his eyes. How did this happen? It had only been a few hours, how had everything gone wrong so fast. 

“Was the argument really that bad?” Aqua asked quietly. 

Xion sat up and scowled. “Master was out of line. He wouldn’t even hear Sora out. He was acting like Vanitas was doing awful things to us all day and wouldn’t even listen when i tried to tell him we were just off having a little fun. It was so uncalled for.” Xion did not take being ignored well. 

Riku pulled out his phone and called Sora, frowning when he didn’t get an answer this time. So it was going to be like that…. 

“Sora was angry…” Riku muttered. 

“Yeah, i think i said that.” Lea said. 

Riku shook his head. “I wasn’t asking. I was stating. Sora always stomped off to be by himself when he was really mad. Been that way since we were little. He didn’t want to say something he couldn’t take back so he’d wandered away to be on his own while he cooled down.” 

“Well considering he went to a different world, i’d say this is more than him just pouting.” Xion grumbled, wishing she'd tagged along too. 

“We’ll find him.” Aqua said. “It shouldn’t be hard to-” 

“No.” Riku said. “We’re going to let him have his alone time.” Though he was immensely relieved Roxas was with him. 

Lea nodded to the tower. “Terra and Ventus showed up a while ago. They’re in with Yen Sid. Good thing they showed up afterwards. Terra jumped on the ‘what did Vanitas do' bandwagon and Sora would have gone after him for that shit.” 

“It needs to stop.” Xion said, losing steam. “Vanitas can’t help how he was born any more than i can. To say that he shouldn’t have been born just because he’s all negativity....” 

Riku felt sick for a moment, wondering if that was one of the comments that threw Sora over the edge. He had to wonder if Sora was drawing parallels with...Cloud. He tried to call Sora again, no answer.

“Was there even a reason Sora and Vanitas needed to stay here?” Riku asked, feeling tired. 

“Not that i can tell.” Lea said. “Beyond Vantias being a danger and Sora needing to babysit his mistake.” 

Without warning, Riku strode away from them and headed inside, fury nipping at his heels. 

“Riku, wait!” Aqua chased after him. All three of them chased after him but he didn’t bother to wait for them or to respond. He weaved through the tower on a mission of his own. He’d promised. He’d _promised_ he’d be there for Sora and he kept missing the most important moments. He didn’t know if things would have been different had he been there, but he could have supported Sora. His back felt hot, his sigil buzzing against his skin. 

His knocking on the sorcerer's door included banging his fist against the wood once before opening it and striding in, Terra and Ventus already there with a much too stern looking Yen Sid. He didn't look the least bit apologetic.

“Good. You’re back.” Yen Sid said by way of greeting. 

“I take it you’ve heard?” Ventus said quietly. He was standing stiffly and looked like he was on the fading end of an anxiety attack. 

Riku just nodded as Aqua and the others slipped into the room. 

“We gotta go find them.” Terra said, arms crossed. 

“We don’t.” Riku muttered. 

Terra looked at Riku like he was the one losing patience. “Tearing off the way they did was irresponsible. We have no way of knowing what Vanitas has done to Sora, this isn’t like him at all. We have to go bring him back before-” 

“ **Shut it!** ” Riku hissed, sigil burning. “You don’t know Sora. You don’t know a damn thing about him. Now shut up.” 

He’d expected the silence that followed his outburst. It wasn’t unfathomable for them to assume Riku would take Sora’s side, but they evidently hadn’t expected him to lash out.

"I do." Ventus said softly. "I do know him." 

"You don't or you wouldn't be so surprised. I'm not surprised. Not at all." Riku's throat felt tight and he partly wished he'd just start yelling. "I'm the one that knows Sora." 

“Damn this is gonna be good.” Lea whispered softly to Xion as Riku turned to the master. 

He might have been a failure where Sora was concerned, but this time he wasn’t taking the blame alone. More then one person failed Sora this time.

Yen Sid sat at his desk, impassively. “Something to say, Riku?” 

They might have expected yelling and screaming to finally break free, they might have expected a tantrum of Riku blindly taking Sora’s side, but they didn’t expect calm rage. 

Riku stared at the master, hating that the man seemingly felt no remorse for his hurtful words directed at Sora. 

“I am...so disappointed. In you. In you three.” he waved his hand at the Wayfinders. “In this whole situation.” 

Lea and Xion gaped and everyone else in the room, Yen Sid included looked as if they’d been slapped. 

“I left Sora thinking he’d be safe, not so he could be held prisoner for staying true to what he believed in. Sora believes in people. He sees the good in people and you’re questioning his judgment?” 

He was furious. 

“It’s your judgement that’s faulty. You’re so busy seeing things in black and white that you don’t see what’s right in front of you.” 

“Riku, Sora’s just a kid.” Terra attempted to cut in and Riku turned his glare on him. 

“I don’t want to hear that from you, he’s a kid who saved your ass! Who saved all of us! Who saved over a dozen different worlds! No one in his room would be here if it wasn’t for Sora. He didn’t get manipulated into betraying his friends by Xehanort.” he wanted those words to sting, all three Wayfinders went pale. Riku's words however turned self-deprecating. “Or Ansem or Maleficent.” 

He turned back to Yen Sid. “Sora’s always looked to the light and his _judgement_ is solid. He believes in Vanitas, so i have to too. And you shunned him. You shunned them both because you’re evidently going senile. Fucking, god. You send us on a wild goose chase with little to no information. Did you not stop and think that maybe Vanitas would have better luck on our last mission? Darkness seeking darkness? That Sora could have talked him into lending a hand, because it’s Sora and he smiles and everyone is happy to help him.” 

He had no real opinion on Vanitas, but Sora was so sure, that was good enough for him. “I don’t know a thing about Vanitas, but it doesn’t make sense to me that someone drenched in darkness would spend their day in Christmas Town eating pie or playing pirates on a whim. Sora says to give him a chance so i’m going to and the rest of you need to grow up.” 

Riku reached to rub his eyes, exhausted. No one was talking now. 

"We _wanted_ role models. We wanted to meet keyblade masters that could teach and and help us and all you're doing is harping on past mistakes and judging everryone that's not just like you. Fuck, i'll go back to my old role model, at least he was always honest." Cloud had never let him down... 

"Riku..." Aqua said hesitantly. "We understa-"

“You don't. You don't understand. You certainly don't understand Sora or you wouldn't treat him the way you do. You take him for granted, every one of you. You’re going to leave him the fuck alone. He’s not the toddler you all think of him as. He’s more than proven time and time again that he can take care of himself. He’ll come back when he’s done contemplating which one of you to whack with his keyblade. It’s time for the rest of you to grow up and follow your hearts the way Sora does. Until then, you’ll remain inferior.” 

Xion actually gasped, floor how brutally honest he was being.

Riku turned to leave. “So fucking disappointed...” he muttered, throwing the door open and storming out into the hall. He'd let Aqua tell Master Yen Sid about the crystal like enemies. He couldn't be bothered with that now, however childish it was. 

He didn’t look to know Lea and Xion were following him out, not wanting to be left alone in the office with the other four. Yen Sid hadn't said a word. He'd just let Riku go on ranting like he'd never seen a pissed off teenager before. He'd been totally helpless. 

“God damn.” Lea muttered, holding into Xion's hand. “That was awesome…” 

Awesome… Riku thought bitterly. He dug his phone out again and dialed Sora's number again. No answer.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. ^__^
> 
> Series Order 
> 
> Gifts  
> A Home that Heals  
> First Adventure  
> Tourney  
> Broken Chain  
>  **Secrets Kept**  
>  Design Time. (set during chapter 5 of Secrets Kept)  
> Judgement (Set during chapter 5 of Secrets Kept)  
> Impart your Wisdom  
> Reunions  
> Split Chain  
> Look to the Rain (Flashback scenes set about 8 years prior)  
> Breakthrough  
> Misfits  
> Homes store memories


End file.
